Patch 1.18 Notes (07/21/2011)

[Lucavi]

Could you explain what you mean by that a bit more? Is it the animation while running that bothers you or is it something less obvious? I've never played Fallout 3.

You know how they used to do those old car driving scenes in movies with the people in a car with a film reel behind them and a fan blowing wind in their face? Its kinda like that. I feel like I'm sliding across the floor in XI instead of actually walking on terrain. I didn't feel that way with XI. I think it has something to do with both the camera and the constant "start-up" animation of your character leaning in a different direction when you turn.

[Cichy]

I think this patch really breathed some life back into the game. Overall I've gotten the feeling from those I speak to, and from reading the boards, that it's been well-received. I echo that feeling too for the most part, as there have been several snags along the way for me and my group (primarily connection issues; it's to the point where I tell people if you've been logged in longer than an hour restart client before entering dungeons).

I've enjoyed seeing the evolution of the game to this point and I think we have a much better idea of the direction of the game now with 1.18. It's a good foundation to build upon, and I speak for many when I say the rest of it has to come fast to keep us interested. The large spike in activity, at least on my server, has been great. The world feels alive and purposeful, but still there is something missing... I'm definitely hungry for more already but also feeling kinda jaded about how little there is almost a year later, or rather how quickly it's been put on "farm status". I dunno, hard to explain what I really feel. I think I'm losing interest maybe.

For me actually it still feels like there is no purpose to the world. After 1.18 hit I went and did few missions and other stuff but still it was very boring experience. I decided to run to few of those settlements, first I went to the one outside of Horizon just to find there is no purpose to it and than to the Amalaja and that was just an HQ campfire. Still when I run through areas it feels like the monster placement is out of order and there is still nothing around.
I maybe also losing interest. I like in my MMO to be rewarded for pretty much anything I do because it gives purpose to stuff I do. Like in XI where you had conquest points for exping, ampules for einherjar, etc. You can say that pretty much every action you took had multiple purpose to it. I guess it comes down to a sense of accomplishment. For me personally that amounts to cool looking gear, ranks, etc in a MMORPG and that's what I need to keep me interested. FFXIV just seems to miss that. Even the materia system for me is like recycling same content.

[miokomioko]

Company seals were a great step towards that, but they didn't add any repeatability to it yet... so you're shit outta' luck once you do the 4 quests in each city. You better pick your purchases carefully.

[Cichy]

Company seals were a great step towards that, but they didn't add any repeatability to it yet... so you're shit outta' luck once you do the 4 quests in each city. You better pick your purchases carefully.

Exactly, I dont see why they couldnt award few seals for killing those Garlean invaders that run around the camps now.

[Vuitton]

Isn't the only "attack" near Tranquil just the Garleans setting up magitek devices inside The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak?

Also, I saw the NPC spawn and immediately /shout. I immediately talked to him and immediately ran straight out to Horizon. Me and maybe 4 others were roaming around the area, and ultimately waiting around for something to happen and nothing ever did. Either nothing actually happened at all or it was only a handful of mobs that some Rank-50's teleported out to and killed right away. However, I haven't heard anything of the latter.

http://ffxiv.zam.com/forum.html?foru...13983047731313

It doesn't have the official behest label on your screen like it does normally in camp, so..

It happened to me near Camp Tranquil. Suddenly a bunch of Garlean showed up. I talked to the nearby NPC to begin. (There was no quest title). After I beat them, a chest appeared with Deaspected Crystals. It seems a lot of players can join.

Garlean level were 20 (war hound)
25 (various garlean)
30 (garlean centurion)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...lipboard32.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...lipboard33.jpg

[miokomioko]

Oh wow, then yeah, I guess some other high-rank dudes has just teleported straight out there and wiped them all out before I could run there (with Quickness). Rank 20~30 is pretty weak...

[Vuitton]

Oh wow, then yeah, I guess some dudes has just teleported straight out there and wiped them all out before I could show up. Rank 20~30 is pretty weak...

Appropriate level for the camp, right? Most people start heading to the Grade 3 Aetheryte camps around R15 don't they? At R25 I move to the Grade 4 camps.

Follow the leves; follow your heart.

Edit:

Personally I think it's bad design to send players to Grade 3 camps at R15. There are only 5 grades of camps, so that means 2/3 of the camps in the game are used up from R15 to R25. Grade 4 for R25-35, and Grade 5 for R35-45.

Eh... I guess it's not that bad. It's just a shame that people either skip the Grade 1 or 2 camps and move straight to Grade 3 very very quickly.

[miokomioko]

Yeah, it's rank-appropriate for the zone, but you can be sure Rank-50s will be out there in a second, 2-shotting stuff, if they catch the dude pop in town. Not much for them to do otherwise!

[Sephiroth]

Has anyone made a list of side quests and their SP rewards yet? I keep talking to NPcs and finding crappy 500 SP rewards for like rank 10 quests but every now and then I'll come across one with 2k reward. I imagine the higher the quest rank the higher the reward so a list of ranks might be enough of a guide for now.

That timer issue where your timers go out of sync, I've found zoning is the cause. My timers were fine while out killing stuff in La Noscea, then I teleported to LL. Afterwards my timers were 6 seconds out of sync, I tested as soon as I got to LL. I don't know why zoning causes that. I don't know if it's because I often switch to my browser during a zoning or something else.

[Niiro]

Do you happen to use a system monitoring program like MSI afterburner?

It's just speculation but after hearing much about the recast bug I only ever experienced it when using said program and when not using it I haven't seen it again since.

[Sephiroth]

Nah I don't use MSI or anything like it. I have MSI installed but never running.

[Amastacia]

Do you happen to use a system monitoring program like MSI afterburner?

It's just speculation but after hearing much about the recast bug I only ever experienced it when using said program and when not using it I haven't seen it again since.

I have Afterburner running 24/7 and never have recast issues. I did see a strange bug once where Outmaneuver lasted 10 seconds instead of the 18 it was supposed to, but at next re-use it behaved normally.

I had all sorts of weird recast issues on my HTPC (C2D E6850, GF8800GT), which barely has enough horsepower to play the game, but my main PC (formerly Q6600, now 2500K, 5870(s)) has never once experienced any ongoing problems. I am curious how many people having frequent issues have lower-spec CPUs or GPUs, and if there is any connection.

[Niiro]

Was just a shot in the dark really, tbh the only reason I use MSI is to take screenshots.

It's too painful to look at my GPU temp, I feel like I'm abusing a pet, hopefully the heat sink I just got will help.

[Sephiroth]

I definitely suspect it's a hardware issue. My CPU barely meets the system requirements but I have a good GPU. This is why I don't like to lower my settings. I'm currently on a 19" screen so don't play in 1080p but it lags like hell when playing in 1080p on my 24" screen which is away for repair.

Still, there are better ways of handling recast timers than this. It shouldn't be down to the user to figure out why their recasts aren't working properly, the game's code should take into account potential issues such as this. If I were coding it I'd have simple code that initiated a 30 second countdown or whatever when the ability is used. I don't know WTF this code is basing its timers from.